We sat down with Bobcat after the release of his stellar new tune 'Transactional Love', to discuss what influences shaped his unique sound. Be sure to check out the single at the bottom and follow him on socials!
The Beatles - 'Slow Down'
I love the vocal delivery on this song. It shows a pop band in the most aggressive punk rock frame possible. Between John Lennon's vocals, Ringo Starr's drum fills and George's best guitar solo on record, nothing is as wild as this song. The Ramones and The Clash were DEFINITELY listening to this when writing their debut albums!
The Marvelettes - I Want A Guy
I believe this was the B side of the great Please Mister Postman, with the most gorgeous melody on any song, perfect transitions and a band playing tighter than anything that could be done outside a Detroit studio produced by the great Berry Gordy! The organ part is downright haunting. The Supremes also covered this song, but I think this is the superior version of this song. This is where soul music and power pop meet in an unconventional way.
The Goddamn Gallows - Save Us
I first saw them in Virginia Beach VA at a venue called The Taphouse in Ghent. My band, The Arkhams opened up for this crazy-loud THREE PEICE PSYCHOBILLY BAND. Before they became the champions of folk punk and their unique cowpunk-metal hybrid, they wrote one of the best songs I ever heard. The lyrics seem like they are despairing but actually uploading because of nobody will save us, we have to save ourselves. It's got the wildest instrumental break on any song I heard in the psychobilly genre, and you can clearly draw a straight line from the Reverend Horton Heat song, Baddest Of The Bad to this great song. Since meeting them and befriending them, they lived up to and past the lyrics of this amazing song!
XTC - Day In Day Out
This is one of their deepest cuts from their 1979 album, Drums and Wires. It is one of the best uses of a clean guitar and delay I've heard! Andy Partridge delivers the lyrics in his biting manner, really driving home the lyrics to this song, and Dave Gregory plays brilliantly on every bar. I remember hearing this song once and putting it on repeat 20× on my cassette tape (I heard it in 1997) the chords can drive you insane and make the fillings in your teeth rattle.
Weezer - The Good Life
A deep cut from their 1996 Pinkerton album, this song has an almost "I Want To Hold Your Hand" melody on its exploding chorus, a deep feeling minor key verse where Rivers Cuomo's vocal never gets bland, even against a pretty standard axis-chord-cliche. The end reminds me of the best parts of Layla with its slide guitar parts and slower rhythm. I first discovered this song right after getting over having COVID in April 2020, and putting this song on blast every day as I had to drive for Lyft during the pandemic as most other options were not open to me (I also owned Long Island Taxi and Airport Servicefrom 2012 through 2023 so it felt like a MASSIVE downgrade from driving my old clients) but the clients who did ride with me during my repeats of this song were pleasantly surprised with what was on my music list!